Lubricating apparatus



D 1936. E. w. was "2 062 447 LUBRICA'IfING APPARATUS Original Filed Aug. 26, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 (frxrrazZ/Daudy Dec. 1, 1936. E. w. DAVIS 7 LUBRIGATING APPARATUS Original Filed Aug. 26 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' Patented 1, 1936 I UNITED TA s PATE Ernest W. .Davis, Oak Park, 111., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Stewart-WarnerCob poration, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Virginia Original application August 26., 1933, Serial No; g 1

686,928. Dividedand this application April 4, 1936,'Seriall\l o.. 72,739 1 j v .5 Claims. (c1. 221 -47.1j

My invention relates generally to lubricating I 6 pivoted upon a hinge pin l8 which is secured to apparatus, and more particularly to pneumaticala hinge. bracket 20. The cover I6 is secured'in ly operated high pressure lubricant compressors! Difiioulty is frequently experienced in causing lubricant to feed properly into the cylinders of high pressure lubricating equipment, primarily due to the presence of pockets of. air in the lubricant. The cylinder and plunger of the lubricant compressor are not designed to discharge air, and

10 air present in the cylinder may be merely compressed upon tlTe discharge stroke of the plunger and again expand on the suction stroke, thus rendering the compressor operation elfective. If,

however, the pockets of air are broken up sothat the air is present in the grease only in relatively small bubbles, the air will be discharged with the grease and will not materially interfere with the operation of the compressor.

- It is therefore one of the objects of my invention toprovide a lubricant compressor havingimproved means for priming the pump cylinder and for preventing the formation of airpockets.

' A further object of my invention is to provide an improved form of lubricant agitator,located adjacent the inlet port of the pump cylinder, and

adapted. to break up air pockets which may be present in the grease being pumped. v

A further object is to provide an improved "lubricant compressor which will be efficient in Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on a broken horizontal plane passing through the center line of the air motor and immediately above the pump cylinder structure;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3+3 of Fig. 2; and V t Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4 -4 of Fig. 2,

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 686,928, filed August 26, 1933.

The lubricant compressor of the present invention is of the pneumatically operated type usable for the hgh pressure lubrication of machinery, particularly automobiles. It comprises generally a hopper type reservoir III, a base l2, and a body 5 casting 14. The reservoir I0 is closed by a. cover hose 34 by means ofa sheath48.

closed position by turning downthe wing nut 24 threaded on a pivoted sorjew26, thenut engaging a slotted angle piece 28 welded to the cover I6.

A bracket 30 welded to the reservoir l0, and a A .whip endiubricant discharge hose 38 is'connected to the body 36 of the'control valve, andat its extremity carries a coupler 40 for making quick detachable connections with any one of a-plurality of lubricant receiving. fittings" connected. to

bearings 44 to be lubricated. Anairqcontrol hose 46 is. preferably clipped to' or held adjacent the .As shown in Fig. 3, the reservoir I0 is welded? to the casting l4, and the latter is secured to the base l2 by means of a capscrew 50,;theupper surface of the base l2 being dished so thatit may 7 be drawn tightly against the base casting;

Formed-integrally with the base casting I4 is an air motor body 52 having a cylindrical bore 54 in which the piston 56 is reciprocablea The end of the cylinder 54 is closed by a head 58threaded into the cylinder and'flocked in position by a tapered pin60 (Fig. 3)which project s through one of a pluralityof notches 62 formed'in the flange of the head .58.. A. asket 64 is interposed between the flange ofthey cylinder head and the V 7 end of the: cylinder body. A plunger lrodl66 is loosely connectedto thepistonifiby an inwardly flanged sleeve 68, a head 10 formed onathe end" of the plunger rod 66 thus being retained, and

limited lost motion between the .plung errod 66 '7 and piston 56 permitted,

The air motor isgen'erally, similar to'that shown 7 and described in my Patent No. l,830,6 43;"and.in

my copending application Serial No. 649,765 filed January 3, 1933. It will suflice hereto state that when. air under pressurei's' supplied to the vcylinder 54 through its inlet opening 12,the piston. will be continuously reciprocated;

The piston of the air motor is moved substan.-

tially solely by its kinetic energy during that portion of its stroke which is effective in moving the plunger through its pressure discharge stroke. The piston will thus force the plunger making itpossible to build up extremely high pressures.

to eject the lubricant by hammer-like blows, 1"

2 w is reciprocable in acylinder body 18. The body 18 is counterbored to form aseat 18 for a spring pressed'ball check valve 80, and has an'inlet port 82. The cylinder body 18 is held within the body l4 by a bushing 84 threaded in the body and engaging a flange 88 formed on the cylinder I8. A look nut 88 and washer 98 prevent accidental loosening of the bushing 84, and the cylinder body I8 is held against rotation by a set screw 82 threaded in the body and having its end engaging in a notch cut in the flange 88. A

1' 84 is threaded in the end of the cylinder body 18 and forms a means for attaching the discharge hose 34 to the cylinder outlet. An agithat the lubricant will be discharged in rapid' high pressure pulsations past the check valve tator rod 98 issecured to the: plunger rod 88 and is guided for longitudinal movement in a bracket 98 which is rigidly secured to a boss I88 projecting upwardly from the bottom of the casting l4 (as shown in Fig. 4) by means of a cap screw I02. The agitator rod 98 thus reciprocates with the plunger and plunger rod in a path extending over the inlet opening 82, thereby breaking up any large air bubbles which may be 'pres-' ent in the grease. v i I In-the use of the lubricant'compressor of my invention air under pressure is supplied to the air motor cylinder 54 through a slidable air control valve which is not illustrated in detail herein, but is fully disclosed in my aforesaid applicationserial No. 686,928.

Upon reciprocation of the piston 58 due to the supply or air under pressure. to the cylinder 54, the piston willreciprocate the plunger stem 88 and plunger I4. It will be noted that the discharge of lubricant from high pressure cylinder 18 will take place due to the momentum imported to the plunger 14, plunger stem 88 and piston '58, since the air pressureon the head end "face of the piston 58 willv be reduced to substantially atmospheric'pressure at approximately the instant that the end of the plunger I4 covers the grease inlet port 82. The reciprocation of the plunger and piston is very rapid so 18 and through the discharge hose 34, past the control valve 38 and hencethrough the whip end hose 38 to the bearing 44 to be lubricated.

The hopper reservoir I8 is filled with grease, but frequently the grease contains pockets of entrapped air. Such pockets of air, if of sufiiciently large size, greatly interfere with the opera- .tion of the high'pressure pumping mechanism Hand when they are present adjacent the-inlet port 82 of the high pressure cylinder. If the bore of the cylinder becomes filled with air, there will be a tendency for this air merely to be compressed as the plunger moves forwardly upon a relatively high, since such high pressure willpre vent any '0! the air in the bore of the cylinder I8 from being forced past the check valve 88.

' With the provision of the agitator rod 98, 'thegrease adjacent the inlet port 82 isagitated, so that the relatively large pockets of air in the greaseare broken up and reduced to such size with the ited to the precise construction disclosed but .wish to include within the scope of my invention all such modifications'and variations which will readily suggest themselves.

What I claim as new and desire to United States Letters Patent is:

1. In aphigh pressure grease compressor, the

secure by combination 01' a grease supply container, a high pressure'pump cylinder positioned at the bottom saidsecondary plunger being of sufliciently small plunger in a path closely adjacent said inlet port,

diameter to pierce and to break up any air bubbles'which'may be present in the grease adjacentsaid inlet port. i

, 2. Ina grease compressor, the combination of a source of grease supply, a pump cylinder having an inlet port communicating with said'source, a. plunger reciprocable in said cylinder, means for rapidly reciprocating said plunger, and a rod secured to said plunger for reciprocation therewith and movable in a pathclosely adjacent said inlet port, said rod being 01' smaller diameter than said plunger so as to enable it to pierce and break up any air bubbles which may be'present in the grease adjacent said inlet port.

3. In a grease compressor, the combination of a source of grease supply, a pump cylinder having an inlet port communicating with said source, a plunger reciprocable in said cylinder, means for reciprocating said plunger, and'a rod of relatively small diameter secured to said means and guided for'reciprocation in a path closelyadjacent to and extending across said inlet port thereby to prevent the formation of an air pocket adjacent said inlet port.

4. In a grease compressor, the combinationoi a source of grease, a pump cylinder having an inlet port communicating with said source, a plunger reciprocable in said cylinder, means for reciprocating said plunger, a rod secured to said plunger for reciprocation therewith and movable in a path closely adjacent said inlet port, and a I ing an inlet port communicating with said source,

a plunger reciprocable in said cylinder, means for reciprocating said plunger, a rod secured to said plunger for reciprocation therewith and movable in a path closely adjacent said inlet port, and a' guide formed integrally with said cylinder and having a relatively close fit with said rod, whereby lubricant adhering to said rod will be scraped therefrom upon the retractile stroke thereof, and deposited adjacent said inlet port.

ERNEST w. DAVIS. 

